Monthly Archives: April 2013

I could go on and on complaining about today already and it isn’t even half over! Rainy, Monday, longest day of the week for me and so on….. BUT I have better news! Last Friday I received a text from one of my very good friends. She was inquiring about my running and asked if she thought I could run 10 miles. I have not gone more than 5 as of recent but I said I felt pretty confident that I could. She proceeded to tell me that her running buddy is in a boot for at least a month and won’t be able to do the Broad Street run this Sunday May 5th. Cue the good news, I am doing the Broad Street Run!! This is a HUGE milestone for me and words can not even convey the excitement, nervousness and everything else that goes along with your first race! The most exciting part though, this girl is awesome and has been pushing me and helping me through everything life has to throw my way. We have been really good friends and really close for a number of years now and to think that we get to share this huge milestone together is amazing and I can’t wait!!

As for the rest of the weekend, nothing to exciting came up, just business as usual so to speak. Work work and more work to gather every penny I can because this hobby is getting so damn expensive! It also keeps me busy and keeps me out of trouble 😉 well for the most part that is. When I got to work on Friday I was talking with a parent of one of my clients and I shared with him that I was doing broad street. He is a HUGE runner and triathlete. It’s funny but he seemed super excited for me and he really put my mind at easy that I was going to be able to complete this race and not die. He then asked how long I thought it would take and explained gels to me and that I should look into getting one for Broad Street because it would be longer than and hour run for me. As if taking the time to explain these things to this rookie wasn’t enough he says “Wait!” and reaches in his bag and tosses me a gel and says here give this a try on Sunday when you do your long run! It was so kind and generous and the people in this triathlon community are awesome.

That is until Sunday when I awoke to see what I was made of! I knew I had a week before the race and I had to see how far I could run before I went to work. I knew if I could swing 7-8 miles I would be fine for the race next weekend. So I packed my cooler(never leave the house without food, ESPECIALLY when headed to work) and headed out. I ran in the park that surrounds the health club where I work and around the neighborhoods and road etc. Hit my 8 miles and I felt phenomenal. Never in my life did I think I would wake up and say “You know what, I’m gonna go run 8 miles today.” It is just an amazing feeling and I can’t believe it. I want all of you to experience the same feeling and if you’re putting in work you will get it, I promise you that. It may not be right when you want it but when it hits you will feel untouchable.

Everything after that was normal, I returned to spin class today as promised. That will be the last “hard” thing I do for the week. Things will be easy from here on out and minimal until the race on Sunday. This is going to be hard for me because I HATE taking time off but this will be for the better.

So first of all, did my spin class today…holy workout! It was AWESOME and I am so glad I did it and I am absolutely going back!! Great workout and great conditioning for my race so I am all about it now. Branch out, maybe you’ll find something new that you really enjoy. Worst comes to worst you get a great workout right?

Now on to the real reason I am writing today, only one day after my last post. One because I am starting to really enjoy this blogging thing, a little more than I thought to be honest. It is a nice release for me some times and I actually enjoy it. 🙂 Reason number two is slightly more in depth than that however. Since I started this journey on this road to a new life I have run into people who I have not seen in quite some time. Upon running into those people they go one of two ways. Option 1, they have no idea who I am and thus don’t say a word and just keep on moving, which is fine with me because it gets me out of conversations I don’t want to have. Option 2, the “compliment” me on how I have changed. Now we are getting to the real meaty part of this post. You may be wondering why I put quotes around compliment…? Well that is because some people say things and you would just rather they not say anything at all. I have come to learn that people really just don’t know what to say and instead of just keeping their mouth shut, they say something stupid.

Now let me pause for a minute and address a few things. I am a very humble person and I never give myself credit for anything. I don’t think what I am done is amazing, inspiring or anything like that. I look at it as I am bettering myself so that I can be a better professional and example for my students. Plus you only get one body so you might as well take care of it. I am also just offering this point of view as food for thought to people who may run in to someone who has made some significant changes and they are then in the shoes of saying something.

Now the one comment that I get quite often and have learned to take it just at face value is “You look amazing!” Just hear me out here. Before I started this journey I wasn’t the most attractive guy on earth but hell, that’s why I am a teacher and not a male model getting paid to have my picture taken. However, I must say and you can politely disagree that I was far from the dude they kept locked in the basement in The Goonies. So this comment can be a double edged sword. It leads me to think well did I look worse than I thought before I started this? Am I really THAT much better looking that I am now amazing? Or was I just that bad looking? Etc. etc. I am not saying I don’t appreciate people noticing the hard work I have put in or things of that nature however I do wish people would come up with some different things to say.

I don’t want anyone who reads this to take it the wrong way, I am not some air head, cocky SOB who feels like everyone should give me great compliments on the things I have done because that is not the case at all. I don’t think I should get any credit for doing anything because this is what you are supposed to do. You are supposed to take care of your body and treat it right. I am just offering a different point of view and playing devil’s advocate because for those of you who have read my posts, you know I tend to over think.

It’s Sunday, the day of rest for me. Not every Sunday is a day of rest for me, however last night I worked an after prom party until about 2:30 am so naturally I was tired. As a rewind through this past week I am starting to realize how fast life is moving and I am super glad that I have made this choice to change and live it to the fullest.

This week went fast and there was a lot going on. With lesson plans and tons of things due at school, it was hard to find some time to get to the gym and workout. I have been doing a lot of cardio to get my endurance up for my race in September. Lots of long runs and long swims mixed with a few short more intense days. Going to be adding some spin classes here and there to get some more bike work in. I gotta get back to the weights though!! I did a 12 week transformation with one of my friends starting in January and I have only hit the weights a few times since I finished that up and I miss it! You can’t beat the high you get after a real solid lift!

Something happened for the first time this week and as lame as it sounds, it felt AWESOME!! I was swimming at the Y and when I stopped to grab a drink the guy next to me said “Hey man are you a triathlete?” I paused before I responded and told him that I was in the making and I had my first race in September. It felt awesome though, on this journey I have said many times to a friend of mine that all I wanted to do was be a “Tri Guy” and it felt great to have an unofficial welcoming to the sport and the family.

I am on the pursuit on getting my road bike and getting it up to speed. This new hobby is more expensive than I could have imagined but I am picking up extra shifts at work and cutting back on other things to help reach this goal. I will not stop at what I want to do and I can’t wait to get the bike road ready and go for that first ride!

If there is one thing that I can take away from this week it would definitely be that you can make excuses to get out of things or you can make things happen. There were 1,000 times last week where I wanted to throw my hands up and say “F THIS!!!” but when you get to the gym or the park(which by the way as a side note, I have found a park with a huge inside loop and I take my agility ladder and make my own circuit, SO MUCH FUN!!) or where ever you’re going and start you feel 100X better than when you got there I can promise you that! Get out there and do it! You will feel so much better! I am not the smartest, not the best, brightest what have you but I can tell you that I do have experience and I am willing to help whoever wants to ask in whatever way I can!

As I lay here in bed reflecting on the time that has passed since my last post, I am satisfied. For the first time in a long time I can truly say that I am satisfied with what is going on these days. I haven’t been feeling well since Easter Sunday so I have been taking it a little easier in the gym but not by much. This could be why I still haven’t recovered from this cold but I am willing to take this sacrifice so that I can workout.

This week has grown to become my favorite week out of the entire year for many reasons. For one is is the week that the hideous pool cover is yanked off, marking the unofficial start of summer. This is also Master’s week which gets me incredibly excited for the summer time, long hot days filled with golf, afternoons by the pool and one of my personal favorites Sunday Funday. On top of all these great things going on in one week, we have had some beautiful weather to boot.

Over this passed week I heard from and old friend of mine. We had a run in while I was doing a swim workout at my old pool and they then contacted me via Facebook. We schedule a meeting at the park where we used to hangout and it was just like old times. We enjoyed Starbucks and spent some time catching up on the happenings of life over the passed year. A whole year since we had seen each other! Crazy I know right.

Along with seeing an old friend, I was flattered by a current friend. She asked me for some help on her journey. She is looking to make some better choices and change the way she looks and change her lifestyle. This is quite possibly the most flattering thing that has happened to me recently. The fact that someone sees what I am doing and they are looking for my input is simply amazing and she has no idea what that did for my ego(it’s small but it is growing!)

It’s funny because I don’t know if anyone even reads these posts but it is some how soothing that I can sit down and put my thoughts somewhere. Whether someone reads them or not well I don’t know, I guess we will just leave that as a mystery. This journey has been a long one for me but I am enjoying it so much every step of the way. Bumps in the road are bound to happen and I have had a few of my own so far. From plateaus, to sickness and everything in between. The most important thing to know is that no matter what I have not given up. I have my eyes on the prize and I am going to stop at nothing until I get there and you should do the exact same.

Class at 8am tomorrow morning has been canceled, which is a nice feeling. I plan to wake up and have some breakfast and then maybe squeeze in some swimming and a run. I know that I have some time before my race in September(Atlantic City Tri) but as I said I am stopping at nothing until I get there. If you are reading this and take nothing away from it but this, it should be to never give up on something you want and something you believe in. You do not have to be the best at everything or even really good at everything. Pick something and stick with it and give it your all, believe me, you will be more than please with the results.

Just in case you need a little motivation, check out this picture of me from September at 295lbs. Funny to look back at these pictures because I surely look different now.

Today is Easter Monday and as I sit here in the computer lab that has no windows or views to anything going on outside I could honestly careless at this point. Somewhere between last Friday (Good Friday) and today I acquired this wonderful cold. Coughing, sniffles, the whole nine. Needless to say, I over slept, skipped working out today and have eaten basically toast with jelly today. But hey its part of life, I’ll stop bitching and move on.

Yesterday was Easter and aside from the amazing Italian dinner prepared by Mimi, we got to see some family and all that good stuff. I played a round of golf with a good buddy and his dad and we had a great time. I hadn’t seen his dad in quite some time and so he was impressed with how I have transformed thus far and it was great to hear his compliments. I also saw my uncle for the first time in awhile and although he can be a complete knucklehead from time to time I really do respect him and look up to him at times. Last night just as I was leaving he grabbed my hand with his arm around me and said “Hey man I’m proud of you, you’re doing great! Keep it up” Comments like that are what keep me going day in and day out. Call me ungrateful or a douche or whatever you want but I hate comments like “You look great!” Oh gee thanks, was I not attractive before just because I weighed more then?! I don’t know it just pisses me off, but it’s probably because I am a weirdo.

Anyway I hope whoever comes across this had a wonderful Easter and is ready to forge on toward whatever it is you are focused on. Keep your eyes on the prize my friends, whatever it is I promise you all we will get there! Keep fighting that good fight!